UNFOLD ZERO Press release

For immediate release:
Contact Alyn Ware, a...@pnnd.org. +420 773 638 867

'The increasing tensions and threat of military conflict over North Korea's
nuclear and missile capabilities makes a diplomatic solution of vital
importance and highest priority,' according to Alyn Ware, Global
Coordinator for Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and
Disarmament (PNND).

'The risk of war, and even the use of nuclear weapons by miscalculation or
accident, is increasing. It won't be quelled by threats and counter threats
from North Korea, USA, Japan, or South Korea.'

'Legislators from the United States, Japan, South Korea and around the
world recognise this threat and are responding with various calls for
diplomacy and proposals for diplomatic solutions.'


64 members of US Congress call for diplomacy (<
http://www.pnnd.org/article/appeal-64-united-states-congress-members-diplomacy-korea
>)

In the United States, 64 members of the US House of Representatives have
endorsed a letter to President Trump (<
https://conyers.house.gov/sites/conyers.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/Congress%20Letter%20to%20Trump%20re%20NK%20Diplomacy%205%2023%2017_0.pdf>)
led by PNND members  John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and
Congressman Jim McGovern, reminding the President that military strikes
without Congressional approval would violate the Constitution, and urging
him to follow a diplomatic approach.

The 64 signers represent the 64 years since the Korean Armistice Agreement
was signed, putting a halt to the fighting but not officially ending the
Korean War or resolving the underlying conflicts.

"As someone who has watched this conflict evolve since I was sent to Korea
as a young Army Lieutenant, it is a reckless, inexperienced move to
threaten military action that could end in devastation instead of pursuing
vigorous diplomacy.” said Conyers, one of two remaining Korean War Veterans
serving in Congress.

“As a daughter of a veteran of the Korean War and a member of the Military
and Veterans Appropriations Subcommittee,  I will continue to demand that
 President Trump provide Congress with a comprehensive strategy for
deterring North Korea that puts diplomacy and non-military strategies
first,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

(See Appeal by 64 US Congress Members for diplomacy in Korea).


Legislators call for a NE Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone

In May 2010, a cross-party group of parliamentarians from Japan and South
Korea proposed the negotiation of a North East Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free
Zone (<
http://unfoldzero.us12.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=b24250dac623a8bc5da1b0664&id=9850c90992&e=c5bcb02158>)
as a solution to the growing nuclear threat from North Korea. The group
included a number of former Foreign Ministers as well as the current
Foreign Minister Taro Kono, a Co-President of PNND at the time.

The group believed that a NE Asia NWFZ would be a more feasible approach
than calling for North Korea to unilaterally give up its nuclear option.
Informal discussions with North Korean parliamentarians and diplomats since
then gives some reason to believe that they are correct in this analysis.

Katsyua Okada, one of the former Foreign Ministers who endorsed the 2010
proposal, has released a Model NE Asia NWFZ treaty (<
http://unfoldzero.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b24250dac623a8bc5da1b0664&id=895fdfe6eb&e=c5bcb02158>)
based on the 3+3 model pioneered by Dr Hiromichi Umebayashi. This model
would require North Korea, Japan and South Korea to agree not to possess
nuclear weapons, station them on their territory, or threaten each other
with nuclear weapons. The model would also require China, Russia and the
United States to commit not to threaten or use nuclear weapons against
Japan, South Korea or North Korea.

Dr Umebayashi will in September this year receive the international Nuclear
Free Future Award in recognition primarily of the potential of his 3+3 NE
Asia NWFZ to help resolve the nuclear crisis in the region.

“I am very pleased to receive the award for my efforts, especially for
establishing a Northeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, but I think I
should be modest because establishing such zone is an on-going endeavor
being tackled by many players. I do hope this award will help strengthen
people’s power as a whole toward that goal.”


Japanese cities and religious leaders support the NE Asian NWFZ proposal

On August 9, 2017, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue, called on the Japanese
government to examine the NE Asia NWFZ as a possible solution to the
growing nuclear crisis. The call was made in the Nagasaki Declaration (<
http://unfoldzero.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b24250dac623a8bc5da1b0664&id=de6cfe33e8&e=c5bcb02158>),
presented by Mayor Taue at the annual event commemorating the nuclear
bombing of Nagasaki.

Mayor Taue is one of 545 Japanese heads of cities and 126 Japanese
religious leaders who have given their support for the NE Asian NWFZ
proposal.


US experts support NE Asia NWFZ

A number of US policy experts support the concept of a NE Asia
Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, including Morten Halperin, a high-level policy
official in the Johnson, Nixon and Clinton administrations. See
<
http://unfoldzero.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b24250dac623a8bc5da1b0664&id=14b8e3e459&e=c5bcb02158
>Promoting
Security in Northeast Asia: A New Approach
<
http://unfoldzero.us12.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=b24250dac623a8bc5da1b0664&id=a78530f9fc&e=c5bcb02158
>
by Morton H. Halperin).



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>

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http://unfoldzero.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b24250dac623a8bc5da1b0664&id=6bb15fd345&e=c5bcb02158
>

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http://unfoldzero.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b24250dac623a8bc5da1b0664&id=494a58642e&e=c5bcb02158
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>

<i...@unfoldzero.org>


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Peace Is Doable

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